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Prevention is better than cure. You must have heard that many times. But in the garden it is so true. 'Sumer is icumen in', (as Mr. Anonymous once said) and so are the green fly, white fly, caterpillars, red spider mites, powdery mildew, tobacco virus, black spot and all those other pests and diseases which seem to take great delight in attacking our most treasured plants and leave the daisies and buttercups in the lawn alone. But by taking some precautions now you should be able to reduce the problem. You won't get rid of them completely, even if you lay cement over your whole garden, paint it green and smother it with plastic flowers. So what can we do about it. To start with, a spot of garden hygiene won't come amiss. While you are sorting out the borders and tidying them up, compost all the healthy plant bits and confine anything and everything that is diseased to the dustbin. Go through the greenhouse. Take everything out and give the inside a good scrub (a drop of Jeyes Fluid in the water won't come amiss), and don't put anything back until it has been thoroughly cleaned. And that includes the ends of garden canes. When you push canes into the compost in a pot, some of the soil gets into the hollow ends of them, and any diseases which happen to be there will get passed on next time you use them. And make sure all your knives and secateurs are thoroughly clean. It is a good policy to clean them every time they are used, even when moving from one plant to the next. If you noticed during last year that some plants have suffered from some disease or other, make sure that you are growing it in the right place. A plant that needs lots of sun and good drainage will soon look sorry for itself if grown in the shade in clay soil and a weak plant is prone to every pest and disease which happens to be passing. If it is in the right place and was growing strongly before the attack, then try a different variety - one which has been bred to be disease resistant. If a plant does catch some horrible disease, cut the affected bit off and burn it or consign it to the dustbin, and then treat the rest of the plant. When you are visiting a garden centre or nursery, don't be tempted to buy plants with their own livestock already installed. Even if you like the plant, it is just not worth it. After all, a few small caterpillars which you can see might mean that the plant has a lot of eggs which you can't see and which will hatch out as soon as you get home and so start a big infestation. Or that little, innocent-looking insect may already have transmitted some viral disease into the leaf it is sitting on. Look for one without, or, even better, go somewhere else to buy it. Plants in poor condition are an indication that they have not been looked after. If something is dying back in its pot it won't have a chance of growing vigorously and having the ability to resist pests and diseases later on. And if you find it easy to pick which plant you want out of a group of identical plants, ponder awhile on why. If it is because it is the only healthy-looking one, go elsewhere. If the others have all been ill-treated, what makes you think that just that one has received special treatment. Look for plants with plump buds, good leaf colour and, in the case of shrubs, show signs of good growth in previous years. Watch out for weeds, liverworts and moss on the surface of the compost. A little doesn't hurt, but a lot may indicate that the plant is possibly pot-bound. Now it so happens that one day, while you are looking round inspecting all the great work you have done, you notice something nasty sucking the sap from your Solomon's seal. Prompt action is always better than a laid-back approach to the problem. You could be lucky, I suppose. Given the right environment and a following wind a flock of blue tits could invade your plot and clear up the infestation of nose to tail greenfly which threaten to suck the plant dry in a matter of days. But on the other hand I think it would be most unlikely. Better to spray with an aphid-specific insecticide, which will pose no threat to beneficial insects, and wipe out the attacking hoard before they have a chance to deliver the knock-out blow. Prompt treatment, by using carefully selected chemicals or picking off the offending creatures or disease-infected parts by hand is really the only answer. Pests left to their own devices will multiply, and in next to no time you have a serious problem. Get in first. Acting at the first sign of trouble means less work for you and less use of insecticides. But do use the right spray for the job. Always make sure that you have identified the problem correctly before trying to put it right. Not all insecticides control all insects. Not all fungicides control all fungal diseases. And some sprays cause damage to some plants. Always read the labels before using - better still, always read the labels before buying, and always obey the instructions - for your own health as well as the plants. If you are going to spray, it is best to do it at dusk to minimise the risk to any pollinating insects. It also helps if you grow plants which encourage beneficial insects to come and visit your garden, plants which attract hoverflies for instance, which are attracted by open-centred flowers. Hoverfly larvae simply love aphids for dinner. But whatever you grow and whatever you do you can't expect your garden to be absolutely problem free. Regular, brief inspections which catch problems before they really get a hold means less work in the long run, and I am all in favour of that. Happy Gardening, Bill Hutchings |
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page last updated 5 MAY 2000 |
